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Theresa May will not be able to hold another vote on her next Brexit deal if it is essentially the same as the deal MPs have already overwhelmingly rejected twice.

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has said unless the Prime Minister offers a ‘substantially different’ withdrawal agreement on Brexit he may not hold a third ‘meaningful vote’.

In a statement to the House, he added this was ‘not my last word on the issue’.

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Bercow, who ultimately decides whether the government can ask parliament again to pass May’s deal to leave the European Union, said ministers could not submit the same proposition again.

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‘If the Government wishes to bring forward a new proposition that is neither the same, nor substantially the same as that disposed of by the house on the 12 March, this would be entirely in order,’ Bercow told the House.

He added: ‘What the Government cannot legitimately do, is to resubmit the same proposition’ which was rejected by 149 votes when it went to MPs last week.

‘This is not my last word, it is simply meant to indicate the test which the Government must meet in order to hold a legitimate third vote in this parliamentary session,’ he said.

Downing Street has indicated that May will not table a motion on a third ‘meaningful vote’ ahead of Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels unless there is a realistic prospect of securing a majority in the Commons.

If no vote takes place over the coming days, she is expected to ask the leaders of the remaining 27 EU members for a lengthy extension to the two-year Article 50 negotiation process, delaying Brexit day for months or even years beyond March 29.

It is widely expected that the PM will then make a last-ditch attempt to get her deal through the Commons next week, effectively presenting MPs with a choice between the Withdrawal Agreement which they have already rejected twice, or a long wait for Brexit.

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Bercow’s ruling today could make that plan impossible, unless the PM is able to negotiate some change to her deal before presenting it once more to MPs.

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There was no immediate response from Downing Street to Bercow’s statement.

The speaker said last week’s second meaningful vote ‘did not fall foul of the convention about matters having already been decided’ because there were a number of legal changes to the deal, as well as the publication of three new documents.

But he said because it has been ‘strongly rumoured’ the Government plans to attempt to schedule a third and possibly a fourth vote, he was prompted to make today’s statement ‘to signal what would be orderly and what would not’.

Bercow said he was sparked into action by a question asked by Labour MP Angela Eagle last week, who wanted to know if the Government was allowed to keep bringing back the same motion again and again.

Speaker of The House of Commons, John Bercow, rules out a third meaningful vote (Picture: AFP/Getty)

He said he consulted Erskine May, the Parliamentary procedural handbook, and found that a motion ‘which is the same in substance’ may not be brought forward again ‘during that same session’.

The Speaker said the convention dated back to April 2, 1604, and said it had been confirmed again many times, including 1864, 1870, 1882, 1891 and 1912.

‘Each time the Speaker of the day ruled that a motion could not be brought back because it had already been decided in that same session of Parliament,’ he continued.

‘Indeed, Erskine May makes reference to no fewer than 12 such rulings up to the year 1920.

‘One of the reasons the rule has lasted so long is that it is a necessary rule to ensure the sensible use of the House’s time and the proper respect for the decisions it takes.’